ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK OF THE SESSION QUESTION
OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN ANY
PART OF THE WORLD, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO COLONIAL AND OTHER
DEPENDENT COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES

Coordination meeting on the human rights situation
in the Great Lakes region

Note by the High Commissioner for Human Rights

1. On 18 and 19 January 1996, a coordination and consultation
meeting of the three Special Rapporteurs on Burundi, Rwanda and
Zaire, was held in Geneva. The meeting was convened by the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, in accordance with the recommendations
made by the three Special Rapporteurs and the Special Rapporteur
on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to establish
increased coordination of their activities in the light of the
deterioration in the human rights situation in the Great Lakes
region.

2. The High Commissioner for Human Rights has the honour to transmit
the report of that meeting to the members of the Commission on
Human Rights.

ANNEX
Report of the first meeting of the Special Rapporteurs of the
Commission on Human Rights on the human rights situation in Burundi,
Rwanda and Zaire

Geneva, 18-19 January 1996

Chairman/Rapporteur: R. Degni-Ségui

Introduction

1. The situation in the Great Lakes region is characterized by
the absence of democracy, by regional and ethnic divisions, and
by political-military conflicts with strong ethnic overtones that
are causing mass exoduses, which in turn arouse xenophobic feelings
in the countries receiving the refugees.

2. At this meeting, which was chaired by Mr. René Degni-Ségui
(Chairman/Rapporteur), the following points were considered: the
human rights situation in the three countries; the measures recommended
at the national level by the three Rapporteurs; the incitement
to racial hatred engaged in by the media; and the actions undertaken
within the international community.

3. After having discussed these topics, the three Rapporteurs
analysed the human rights situation in the three countries and
the common features of the situation in the Great Lakes region,
and made a number of recommendations.

I. THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN THE THREE COUNTRIES

A. Burundi

4. In Burundi, the cohabitation of the two main political parties,
the Burundi Democratic Front (FRODEBU) and the Union for National
Progress (UPRONA), as established by the Government Convention
of 10 September 1994, has been rendered impracticable by the Tutsi
minority's effective retention of the exercise and control of
the chief functions of the State (armed forces, justice and the
Executive) and the marginalization of Parliament.

5. Since the attempted coup d'état of October 1993,
Burundi has sunk into civil war and a climate of widespread violence
and insecurity. On the one hand, the army, supported by extremist
Tutsi militias, is engaging in countrywide ethnic cleansing, systematically
driving the Hutus out of the towns; and on the other hand, Hutu
"armed gangs" are attacking the armed forces and the
Tutsi population. As a result, there have been huge population
displacements, both within Burundi and to the neighbouring countries.

6. The Special Rapporteur sees in this situation a succession
of deliberate genocidal acts. He emphasizes the absolute necessity
of inducing the two main political forces in the country to assume
their responsibilities, as defined in the Government Convention.

B. Rwanda

7. Before the genocide of 1994, the political situation was shaped
by a continuing conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups.
The conflict was characterized by the domination of the Hutu leaders
and their refusal to share power with the Tutsis. Since 1990,
this situation has been aggravated by the war between the Rwandan
Patriotic Front (FPR) and the governmental armed forces. The resultant
political tensions led to the genocide and massacres.

8. Since the genocide, the situation has been characterized by
the following three features:

(a) No proceedings have been brought against the presumed perpetrators
of the genocide, owing to the deficiencies of the judicial system;

(b) A renewed outbreak of human rights violations, such as illegal
occupations of property, infringements of the right to life (notably
reprisals), infringements of freedom of expression, and infringements
of the right to security of person (arbitrary arrests and detentions,
overcrowding of prisons); and

(c) The non-return of refugees.

9. The Special Rapporteur recommends that punishment should be
imposed by the national courts and the International Tribunal
for Rwanda for the acts of genocide and serious violations of
international humanitarian law and human rights, this being a
prerequisite for national reconciliation. He also recommends the
cessation and punishment of the current violations of human rights.
Lastly, he recommends that States should cooperate with the International
Tribunal.

C. Zaire

10. The disappearance of State activities has led to the deterioration
of
the economic and social infrastructure (roads, school system,
health, currency, etc.) and the emergence of political conflicts
with ethnic and regional overtones. The machinery for repression,
which is in the hands of the President of the Republic, is the
only State force which exists in Zaire. Its members are primarily
responsible for the numerous violations of human rights, in particular
the right to security of person (arbitrary arrests and detentions),
the right to life and physical integrity (rape of women), and
the right to own property (looting).

11. In addition, the massive influx of refugees from Burundi and
Rwanda has kindled the xenophobia which already existed among
the population of the North and South­Kivu regions against
the foreign peoples who have settled in Zaire following several
waves of migration, originating primarily from Rwanda (particularly
the Banyamulenge and the Banyarwanda).

12. The Special Rapporteur on Zaire has recommended, in particular,
that the armed forces should no longer be subordinate to the Office
of the President and that the relevant decisions of the Sovereign
National Conference on democratic transition should be implemented.

II. COMMON ASPECTS OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN THE GREAT
LAKES REGION

13. The mass population movements, the illegal arms sales and
the incitement to racial hatred by the media constitute the main
characteristics common to the three countries of the Great Lakes
region.

14. As has already been mentioned, the three countries are the
scene of huge population displacements either within each country
or, in the case of Rwanda and Burundi, to neighbouring countries
(Tanzania and Zaire, in particular). The presence of these populations
massed on the borders of the three countries is creating tension,
heightened by military operations, which are themselves facilitated
by illegal arms trafficking.

15. In this context of political­military conflict with strong
ethnic overtones, the media are publishing or broadcasting a growing
number of calls for inter­ethnic violence and attacks on
representatives of the international community and the humanitarian
organizations. This situation is continuing, while the authorities
are failing to take the appropriate measures within their power
to put an end to it. The Rapporteurs considered the question of
personal security, and more particularly the security of the human
rights observers operating in the field.

III. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS CONCERNING THE
GREAT LAKES REGION

16. The most important types of violation are the serious and
massive infringements of the right to life, physical integrity
and personal security and the right to own property. These violations
are the direct consequence of conflicts related to the struggle
for political and economic power. This struggle exploits pre­existing
ethnic and regional divisions and is based on the mono­ethnic
character of the armies of the three countries.

17. The Special Rapporteurs:

(a) Recommend, in order to overcome the situation described above:

(i) the establishment of the rule of law;

(ii) greater representation of the various components of the
nation within the armed forces and effective supervision of the
armed forces by the democratic institutions;

(iii) a national plan in each country for the reorganization
of the administration and public services, supported by financial
assistance from international institutions such as the World Bank;

(b) Recommend that the national judicial system of the three countries
should function effectively and impartially in order to restore
confidence among the population and, in particular, to promote
the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes;

(c) Emphatically stress the obligation on all the parties concerned
scrupulously to observe the fundamental principles of non­refoulement
and voluntary return;

(d) Recommend that within the refugee camps in Zaire the authorities
should remove the bullies who are preventing the voluntary return
of refugees;

(e) Energetically condemn the incitement to racial or ethnic hatred
disseminated by the media in particular, and support the appeal,
made by the Heads of State and delegations of the countries of
the Great Lakes region in the Cairo Declaration of 29 November 1995,
"forcefully condemning the ideology of ethnic and political
genocide used in the rivalry for the conquest and monopoly of
power";

(f) Recommend, as urged by the Commission on Human Rights, that
the operations of the High Commissioner for Human Rights should
be extended to the three countries of the region, and that the
field observers participating in these operations should also
be deployed in the three countries. They further recommend that
these operations should receive appropriate financing from the
United Nations. They consider that human rights must form an integral
part of a global United Nations strategy and must not be
used as a sop for the conscience of the international community;

(g) Express their desire to be kept informed of the activities
of the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry
into arms sales in the Great Lakes region;

(h) While welcoming the establishment of the International Commission
of Inquiry on Burundi appointed by the Secretary­General,
emphasize with concern, given the nature and extent of the task
to be accomplished, the inadequacy of the human and material resources
that have been granted to the Commission and draw attention to
the lack of security surrounding its activities;

(i) Concerned about the human rights situation in the Great Lakes
region, decide to increase their cooperation and to unite their
efforts with a view to achieving an integrated approach to the
common problems which exist in Burundi, Rwanda and Zaire;

(j) Express the wish that a coordination unit should be established
within the Centre for Human Rights linking more closely the professional
officers assigned to them under their mandates and promoting the
exchange of information. They accordingly request the High Commissioner
for Human Rights to instruct these officers to assist them full
time and to appoint a coordinator;

(k) Express the desire to meet at least twice a year for consultations,
an exchange of views and coordination of their activities, thereby
putting to good use their consultations in Geneva;

(l) Also express their desire to participate in conferences, seminars,
symposia and other activities relating to the Great Lakes region
and relevant to their respective mandates.

18. Given the common, trans­frontier aspects of the human
rights situation in the Great Lakes region, the Special Rapporteurs
recommend to the Commission on Human Rights that it should adopt
a global resolution on the region.